Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home may provide care and accommodation for single- gender occupancy only.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has an experienced registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)) 16/01/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people at this home are settled and are making exceptional progress. This is because they receive high-quality care from a stable staff team that is committed to ensuring that they have the best possible experiences and opportunities. Staff are extremely child centred and deliver therapeutic care that helps young people to develop strong and trusting bonds. Young people invest in their placement. External agencies reported that young people’s progress is attributable to the relationships between the young people and staff. Young people themselves feel that staff genuinely care about them and have helped them to develop and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home’s manager has worked tirelessly to ensure that young people are in the most appropriate school provision, so that they can experience success in education. One young person is doing very well in a small mainstream high school and will take their national qualifications this academic year. Another young person previously had to travel a significant distance to school, which meant that she had extremely long and tiring days. She is now settled in a local specialist school and is much happier. A third young person is attending a school that does not provide her with the nurturing environment she needs. The manager advocates strongly on her behalf for an alternative education provision to be identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The care of each young person is individualised to their needs and, as such, ensures that progression and support are identified in specific areas. For example, one young person has lost a significant amount of weight and rightly feels very proud of her achievements. She has more body confidence and is trying out different clothing styles. Another young person has been able to have free time. She has developed her own friendship network Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 4 though school and now has sleepovers. She also has her own phone and can use social media. This progression is remarkable when her initial high risks are considered. A third young person has developed new skills in being able to regulate her emotions, and her behaviour has changed remarkably from her point of placement even though she is still relatively new to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people usually have positive relationships with each other. They can show empathy and care by helping and supporting each other when one of them is upset or distressed. The older girls act as role models to the younger girl, and they all benefit from this. The older girls feel more responsibility to behave in an acceptable way and model positive behaviour, and the younger person follows their example.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are listened to, and their views are acted on appropriately. When there have been problems or issues of concern, the staff, or on occasions the young people, call a young persons’ meeting to ensure that the young people have an opportunity to share their views and to come to a joint solution to the problem. Young people have the opportunity to speak to staff about anything on a daily basis and they make full use of this. Records show that young people have meaningful discussions with staff, who help them to understand how they feel, consider others and manage their emotions. Weekly therapeutic support is also available to the young people as a further avenue for them to express themselves. Unfortunately, there have been a number of changes of therapist and so the girls are just starting to re-build the therapeutic relationships in order to benefit most from the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people’s bedrooms evidence the extent to which they feel the home is theirs. They each have completely different rooms, decorated and furnished in the way they have chosen. They are highly personalised and clearly show ownership of the girls’ personal space.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding

Risks have reduced significantly for each of the young people from their starting points. Risks are clearly identified for young people in their risk assessments, and staff know what strategies are in place and how to manage and reduce the risks. Staff do some direct in-depth work on risk reduction, and young people respond very well to this.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding

Some young people have access to the internet and to social media. Staff engage young people in online training and quizzes to increase their understanding of online risks and of how to keep themselves safe. One young person readily complies with spot checks and handing in her phone so that staff can ensure her safety. Others who are not yet at a stage to have unsupervised access to the internet are compliant with supervision because they understand the risks.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding

Since the last inspection, there has been only one missing from home episode. Young people feel safe and settled and do not feel the need to go missing. Similarly, there has been only one restrictive physical intervention. This again shows that staff use their Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 5 relationships with the young people, and the de-escalation techniques they know work to prevent behaviour from heightening to the point at which the young person needs to be restrained. The record for the physical intervention, although detailed, did not provide a description of the hold used, and therefore a requirement is made.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding

Although the young people have good relationships overall, there are some instances when they engage in negative and unkind behaviour towards each other. A young person reported that staff always intervene when relationships become fractious. A strong culture of anti-bullying is evident, and young people are very well educated about what bullying is and the impact it has on the victim.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding

There is a strong focus on positive reinforcement, which is highly effective in promoting and achieving good behaviour. When consequences are used, these are relevant and proportionate. There are many more rewards recorded for positive behaviours than there are sanctions for negative ones. Young people are clear about the rules and boundaries in place and reported they are fair and reasonable. Staff ensure that they are consistent in the implementation of rules through regular communication and effective recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager of the home is passionate about the young people in her care. She shows great commitment, enthusiasm and genuine affection for them. The young people respond very well to this and evidently have a highly positive relationship with her. She leads the staff team by role modelling exceptionally high-quality care, and this has a positive impact on the staff team. Other agencies and parents spoken to commented on the positive relationships between the young people and the manager and the extent to which they trust her. Observations during inspection showed the manager to be warm, attentive and nurturing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff reported that they receive regular high-quality supervision and that they feel supported. They also said that they are offered opportunities to develop. The staff team has been stable since the previous inspection, allowing strong relationships to be developed over time. This continuity helps young people to feel valued and cared for and enables them to put trust in those caring for them because they are not worried about their leaving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Matching of young people into the home has improved. A previous match was not positive for the young people and resulted in a turbulent time for the home, which eventually gave notice on the placement. This was in line with the young person’s wish to move out of a rural area and because of the detrimental impact she was having on the other young people and the group dynamic. The manager has carefully assessed the impact of the newest admission and has introduced a young person who is significantly younger than the two already in placement, which has worked exceptionally well for all three young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has involved young people in the recruitment process and they have Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 6 participated by developing and asking their own questions at interview and spending time with candidates before they are employed. This involvement in recruitment helps young people to feel more in control of who comes to work in their home and helps promote positive relationships between young people and new members of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Records in the home are generally of a very high quality and are detailed. The manager has good monitoring systems in place to ensure that everything is done to a high standard. She reviews and comments on numerous documents to evaluate the actions of staff and the impact on young people. The manager is diligent in ensuring that any updates to documents are read and signed by each member of staff before they are filed. This ensures that staff have the most up-to-date information about how to care for young people. Additionally, the manager frequently works care shifts alongside staff so that she maintains her positive relationship with the young people and so that she can observe the staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The one requirement made at the previous inspection relating to the admission and discharge register being kept fully up to date has been met.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1241970 8 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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